I've used Accordance since its earliest days, and feel it is the strongest Bible study toolset you can use, whether on the net, computer- Mac or PC, or print. Of course I haven't used every one of these alternatives, but of the ones I have used (and I've tested or used many of them), Accordance has the most to offer, and is the easiest to use.

As the for the silly discussion about what is appropriate content on TUAW, it's actually quite easy: if you're not interested, skip the article. TUAW (and every other blog I know of) covers a ton of material, much of which is not of interest to me. So I skip those articles, and focus on the ones that are of interest.

It would be the height of arrogance for me to complain about TUAW writing articles or reviews of the things about which I don't care, or even those I actively dislike. So why do those who complain about this type of review think that TUAW exists only to write about the things they care about? Does this mean that TUAW should not about the things I care about? And who is to know what I, or you, or anyone really cares about?

I encourage TUAW, and the other blogs I read, to write about whatever they think is appropriate. I can either skip the articles in which I'm not interested, or if they end up writing too many that are outside my areas of interest, I can drop them from my reader.

If you want to discuss the particular pros and cons of faith, or politics, or any other topic, there are plenty of blogs and forums that cover those topics. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, I applaud the developers and staff who create and support Accordance. They make great Mac software!

Rick

Jimmi- There is a new Sherwood AVR that is smaller and more stylish than the typical AVR: http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/09/sherwoods-700w-r-904n-netboxx-av-receiver-dabbles-in-online-med/ Rick

Despite the negative comments about 7.1 sound, it can sound great with the right material and the right speakers. If your space or budget are tight, get a 5.1 set of matched speakers and a 7.1 receiver (so you can add more speakers later). if you go with the 5.1 setup, look for bi or di-pole surround speakers, which go a long way toward making up the sonic deficit of standard speakers. Any good mid-range receiver will do the trick- Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Yamaha.

As noted elsewhere, be sure the receiver supports at least 3 HDMI inputs (preferably 4 or more) and 1 or 2 HDMI outputs, supports for all the modern HD codecs, at least 2 zones, and has good video processing.

I can recommend a great set of speakers at a fantastic price: Emotiva ERM-1's are being closed out at $150/each. They're selling a set of 3 ERM-1s and 2 ERD-1s (the ERDs are switchable bi/di-pole surround speakers) for ~$716 + shipping. I installed this exact set a few months back in a bedroom and love the sound and look! http://emotiva.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=25

For a sub-woofer, there are tons of good ones out there in the $3-400 range (you can spend less or waaay more), which puts your speakers in the $1,200 range. Add in a nice receiver for $6-800, plus a Blu-Ray for another $250-300, and you're set.

I have had good success with refurb electronics (refurbished by the manufacturer) from Denon, Marantz, and Sony. You can save 20-40% of retail, which can be a good deal. I'm currently running a refurb Marantz SR-5003 AVR (I paid ~$550 for it from Accessories 4 Less a few months ago; list was $800: http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/generic/Marantz-Specials/1.html?results.per.page=4ab15f6c ).

Good luck and have fun!

Rick

HDMI is still an immature technology (1.1, 1.3, 1.3a or b or c?). The electronics manufacturers are not helping; they push HDMI as if it were a legitimate standard, but it's not quite there yet. And this doesn't even hit on the legal ramifications of playing legal nut unrecognized content that HDMI introduces. For example, only the most expensive A/V receivers support more than one HDMI out port, so if you want to route your HD cable picture or Blu-Ray movie through your receiver to a TV and a computer, for example, you can't unless you spend a bunch- close to $2 grand (suggested retail). I guess you could buy an HDMI multi-port switch, but that defeats the purpose of an all-in-one receiver. So I'll wait a while for things to settle down before I abandon component to spend several thousand $$ on new receivers, HD LCD panels, Blu-Ray players, cables, and whatever else.

What I have today: living room: Sceptre 32" 720p LCD, Denon 2101 receiver, Comcast HD cable, Panasonic DVD changer. Master bedroom: Sceptre 37" 720p LCD, Denon 2101 receiver, Comcast HD cable, Onkyo DVD changer.

To get to the next step for me requires two new HDMI receivers, at least one new LCD screen with HDMI (the 37" Sceptre already supports HDMI so I can keep it for a while), and two Blu-Ray HDMI players (maybe PS3's?). Although I don't have to do all this at once, it's a big chunk of change no matter what.

Rick

Because my event was indoors with very low light, the image stabilization didn't help much. I took a few digital pictures using the 5MP camera option, but as with the video, they were too dark to be really useful. The camera also offers 8MP and 3MP modes. You can only use the digital camera when you are not doing video recording. There is an option to record from TV/VCR/DVD at 640x480 using the included composite cable.

There is a lot of stuff built into this camera, especially considering the price. Just do not confuse it for a high quality camcorder, HD or SD. Use it for what it's good for: light, cheap, easy video recording in good light.

Hey- I bought one of these last week to try to record an event for one of my kids. I don't have much experience with it yet, but, as you would expect, there are some interesting trade-offs. You can indeed shoot at 1080p, but it burns up SDHC card space quickly, 720p/60fps is probably good to shoot outdoor action scenes, while 720/30fps works for indoor with good light. I ended up with huge recording problems at my event, because of the horrible lighting. The cam has an LED light, but it only throws a few feet- not enough to make a difference for me. If you shoot indoors, make sure you have lots of light. Sound recording was OK, not great, but I picked up what people were saying. The 3x optical zoom is slow and jerky, and of course the zoom needs even more light. I suggest you edit out the zooms in post and use the fixed shots; that makes for a better final video anyway. The standard battery is 1000mAh, about 30-45 minutes of recording time. You should buy more of those batteries, and an external charger. Aiptek also offers an 1800mAh battery, which should give you ~90 minutes. They don't, however, provide an external charger for those, so you need to charge them in the camera- a hassle. If you shoot a multi-hour event, such as mine, you'll need extra batteries and a couple of 16GB SDHC class 6 cards (I got mine at Amazon, Transcend, for about $73/each). The thing is amazingly small and light. I easily fit it (plus extra cards, batteries, manual, various cables, etc.) into a compact camera bag. I recommend a mono- or tri-pod for stability, but shooting without one in good light is OK but shaky. When I decided to buy one, I had to try several WalMart's in my area (San Jose, CA).before finding one in stock. I'm glad I found one, it works well enough for ad hoc projects. But do not expect the same quality as you would get from Canon, Sony, Panasonic. For $200, what the heck! Have some fun! But I'll probably buy a Canon Vixia later. I really like the flash recording format- this is about as easy as it gets. As a mac user, I had heard problems with getting the Aiptek files into my Mac and editing them in iMovie. But I had no issues at all- copy the files to your hard drive (they automatically go into iPhoto), then open with iMovie. Bang- you're there. All in all, for $200, this is a pretty sweet deal.

When displays are used primarily as a TV, especially with HD content, there is a consistent problem you might run into: the difference between standard def images and HD. The SD image covers roughly the middle 2/3 of the screen, while the 2 ends are black. When I turn my LCD TVs off (I have 30" and 37" Sceptre LCD displays), you can see that the middle section is lighter than the ends. I do not normally notice this when watching full-screen HD content, but it does show up sometimes.

Rick

new PS/3

Streaming media is watching 2 TVs, listening to songs ripped onto your PC, while your wife rubs your... back. At least until the technolgy to really integrate this stuff is really here and working. Rick

Comcast, San Jose, CA.